


After the nightmare, fear

by NoMoreBeer4U



Series: After the nightmare series [13]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s08e05 Icon, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:53:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25858492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoMoreBeer4U/pseuds/NoMoreBeer4U
Summary: Daniel is back from Tegalus, but things don't go as smoothly as expected.
Relationships: Daniel Jackson/Jack O'Neill
Series: After the nightmare series [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704055
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	After the nightmare, fear

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own them, I don't make money with this, don't sue me, blah, blah, blah.

“Oh, God, oh, God, yes, yes, oh my… Jaaaaaack!” Daniel threw his head back and arched his back as the last thrust reached the goal and he surrendered to the most explosive orgasm he had had in weeks. Not a high expectation, really, considering the fact that last weeks had carried a complete lack of action, in sex terms at least.

It seemed impossible that just a couple of days ago he had been stuck thousands of light-years far from home, in the middle of a conflict that had absolutely nothing to do with him. And now there he was, wrapped in almost two hundred pounds of a sweaty General, still quivering with the aftermath of a fairly accurate imitation of their first time on the wooden deck next to his lover’s cabin.

“I love you,” Jack whispered into his ear. He kissed the spot just behind the archaeologist’s earlobe, which caused an automatic moan from said man.

“I love you too,” Daniel replied softly, still trying to recover the air that had escaped from his lungs.

Jack moved from the top of his lover and lay on his side, his arm possessively wrapped around Daniel’s stomach. It was sticky with cum, but no way he was going to let go. Daniel had been lost for two months, with no way of knowing whether he was dead or alive. Finally, after weeks of nightmares, in which he saw his archaeologist killed in all the imaginable ways, he was reunited with his lover again. No, there was no way that he was going to let go.

“I missed you,” he said with emotion as he began to lovingly stroke Daniel’s belly. Jack's eyes ran over every inch of his lover’s body. Not only was he a loving and caring soul, but he also came with the most incredible wrapping. Daniel was gorgeous. His incredibly beautiful blue eyes matched perfectly with his handsome face and his young, well-toned, flawless body. For a moment, Jack wondered how such a beautiful person could be in love with such an irreverent, old, scarred General.

The archaeologist felt his arousal reviving under Jack’s ministrations and he searched for his lips. They met in a long, passionate, and wet kiss. Their tongues intertwined and fought to suck each other’s tonsils. They broke the kiss, panting when the oxygen demanded entrance to refill their lungs.

“I missed you too,” Daniel whispered, his eyes glistening with love and desire. “For a while, I thought I was going to get stuck there forever. Every time I tried to contact Earth and I didn’t get a response… I almost lost hope. If it hadn’t been for Leda…”

“Leda?” Jack asked with a scowl.

“Yeah, you know, Jared Kane's wife, the one who took care of my injuries after the bomb hit me.”

“Oh, yeah, THAT Leda,” Jack continued in a sarcastic tone. “You mean the one you were stuck with, in that lovely, isolated cottage?”

Daniel looked at his lover bewildered, not liking the tone he was using. “What are you implying?” he asked, a bit annoyed now.

“Well, you know, a beautiful young woman, a solitary house in the country…”

At that point, Daniel didn’t know if Jack was talking seriously or if he was teasing him.

“How do you know whether she was beautiful?” he asked, choosing for the moment the teasing option.

“Oh, I don’t know, was she?” Jack insisted, not losing his grip on his lover’s stomach.

“I don’t know, I guess so, in a manner. Not my type although,” Daniel grinned and bobbed his eyebrows staring at his lover seductively.

“I see,” Jack said coldly.

Daniel’s smile faded and he frowned at the colonel. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He wasn’t sure the teasing option was the correct one anymore.

“It means we all know your notoriety with beautiful alien chicks.” The words came out from Jack’s mouth before he could give them a second thought.

All color drained from Daniel’s face. He felt as if Jack had stabbed directly in his heart and then twisted the knife. Without a word, feeling his pulse thumping hard into his ears, he abruptly sat up and started to dress up.

“Danny… I… I'm sorry… I… I don’t know what got into me,” Jack stammered, scared by his own accusation and Daniel’s reaction. He touched the archaeologist’s shoulder but he pushed the colonel’s hand away.

“Don’t touch me!” he bellowed while pulled his pants up to his legs furiously. He put on his trainers without bothering with the socks, stood up, and zipped his pants.

“Baby, please, I don’t know why I said that. I'm sorry, please, let me fix it,” Jack said, horrified of the painful expression he had drawn in his lover’s eyes.

“There’s no way you can fix it, and don’t call me that!” Angrily, Daniel put on his t-shirt. He felt the increasing anger growing in his gut and mixing with the pain.

“Daniel, please…” Jack pleaded.

“Leave me alone!” And don’t you dare follow me!” And with that, he ran towards the near forest.

“Daniel!” Jack called him, in a desperate attempt to stop him.

The archaeologist disappeared among the trees. Jack, unable to move, kneeled on the wooden dock. He replayed on his mind the last two minutes. How could he had been so cruel? Daniel would never forgive him. What had made him hurt to the core the most important person in his life? Not just that. Daniel was his life. Oh God, what if had fucked up the most wonderful thing that ever happened to him? He had done it once when he had killed his son with his recklessness. And now, not with a gun but with words, had ripped off the life from his lover’s eyes.

“Damnit, what have I done? Da-niel…” his voice cracked and buried his face in his hands.

***

Daniel ran without direction. His eyes were itching with unshed tears. He wasn’t going to cry. Not this time. He was too furious. He couldn’t understand Jack’s behavior. For a moment, he thought maybe the colonel had been infected with some alien virus or something, but then he dismissed the idea. It wasn’t possible, since Jack didn’t go off-world anymore. Maybe that was the problem. Jack wasn’t there anymore watching his six. Was it some matter of trust? He knew the colonel had always been honest with his love, so why? If Jack loved him, why had he acted so cruelly? Daniel swore when he felt the first tear rolling down his cheek. His heart ached, and it was difficult to breathe, and the race wasn’t helping.

He could still feel the stickiness of the cum on his abdomen. He needed to clean it. Right now he didn’t want to keep any memory of his last minutes with Jack.

He stopped to catch some air when he heard the bubbling sound of running water. He staggered towards the sound and saw a little stream. He kneeled in front of the water and lifted his t-shirt. With the clear and fresh liquid, he cleaned all the remains of cum in his stomach.

Lost in his distress, Daniel heard the rattle a fraction of second too late, and not before he felt a sharp pain in his left side. He yelped and straightened in time to see a big brown snake slithering towards a bunch of rocks. His side was tingling, and he instinctively applied pressure with his hand. He felt the familiar stickiness of blood in his palm.

“Oh, shit!” he exclaimed as he lifted his hand to find two bloody punctures just below his ribs.

*** 

Jack dressed up as fast as his pounding heart and his shaking hands let him. No matter what Daniel said, he needed to find him and fix what he just fucked up. The archaeologist was the love of his life, he would never forgive himself if he lost him for his own stupidity. Deep inside him, he knew what had made him act so ruthlessly, and he felt ashamed. He didn’t deserve his forgiveness, but at least he needed to give him an explanation. Firstly, he needed to find him. He tied up his boots and ran towards the woods.

***

Daniel was angry and deeply hurt by Jack’s words, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew how dangerous a rattlesnake bite could be. As an archaeologist, he had a deep understanding of a lot of poisonous snakes and their effect on people. The possibilities to run across a Timber rattlesnake in Minnesota were extremely rare, but as he just witnessed, not totally impossible. He needed help, and he needed it now. He must go back to the cabin and get help. If he survived, he'd deal with Jack’s behavior later. He stood up and leaned against a tree when sudden lightheadedness hit him. He took a deep breath and started moving, bouncing from tree to tree. Due to the location of the bite, the venom was spreading fast. He didn’t have much time.

***

The wet terrain and the broken branches gave Jack clues enough to know the direction his lover had taken. He walked fast while trying to come up with something to tell Daniel which wouldn’t sound miserably pathetic. Until now, he had nothing. He looked at the sky and saw the sun was quite low already. Soon would be dark, and Daniel wasn’t familiar with the terrain. He needed to find him soon.

***

Daniel was sweating profusely. His vision was getting blurry, and he was nauseous. Damnit, the venom was acting fast. It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes since the snake had bitten him. His steps became more unsteady as weakness claimed his body. His arms and legs felt numb, but his side was on fire. Every one of his muscles was quivering, and his breathing came in short gasps. Unable to lift his feet, he tripped with a root and fell hard on his knees. The hit made his stomach rebel, and he threw up violently. Once he had expelled the contents on his stomach, he kept dry heaving for some minutes more, clutching his painful belly. When he finished he leaned against a tree, panting as if he had run a marathon. He wrapped his arms around his midsection, as new cramps hit his stomach. He tried to control his breathing, knowing that as much stress he got, the venom would travel faster through his system. He had to calm down and keep going, but he felt too dizzy to even think of getting up. The pain in his side was increasing. He tried to concentrate on his breathing. In-out, in-out, in-out.

After a few agonizing minutes, the queasiness in his stomach began to recede, and he tried to get up. His legs felt like jelly and he wobbled, but he managed to keep a stand-up position. He saw the sun was starting to set. He needed to reach the cabin as soon as possible, but the pain, the dizziness, and his blurry vision didn’t help to orientate, and he realized he didn’t know the direction anymore. Anyway, he took some steps forward, but his joints didn’t seem to function properly. His legs buckled and he hit the ground so hard that his teeth rattled. He tried to kneel but to no avail. He was so weak that he could barely move, so he stayed lying on the ground and curled up into a ball, clutching his painful side. If he weren’t feeling so sick he'd laughed at the irony of his situation. He had survived an alien civil war to end up dying alone and lost in his own planet, and because of a snakebite, nothing less. Not a goau'ld, but a common earthly snake. He let out a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. It wasn’t likely that Jack could find him any time soon. Even if he decided to look for him, also highly unlikely, he didn’t know where he had gone.

He could feel his condition deteriorating fast. When he found him, if he found him, it would be too late. And the worst of all was that his last words to Jack had been of anger. He wasn’t angry anymore. Now he was just hurt and sad. Jack was a good person and a caring lover. The Asgard named a ship after him, for God’s sake. The times when Daniel had seen him acting mean, were when he was hurting or scared. But what would Jack be scared of? Damn, he didn’t want to die, he wasn’t going to die. He needed to clear things up with his lover. He wasn’t ready to throw away the most amazing thing that ever happened to him. He needed to know what was really troubling Jack. He needed to keep going. He gathered all his strength and stood up. Again, he bounced from tree to tree.

Meanwhile, Jack heard movement some yards in front of him and increased his speed.

“Daniel!” he yelled. He didn’t get a response and moved forward cautiously. It might be a wild animal, maybe a deer. He stepped into a little clearing and his blood froze in his veins. Daniel was swaying leaned against a tree. He was dirty, sweaty and pale and he looked very ill.

“Oh, my God, Daniel!” he exclaimed terrified for the appearance of his lover. What the hell had happened? When he was closer, he saw the blood on the side of the archaeologist’s t-shirt. He ran towards him, and he reached him at the moment he collapsed in his arms. He held him and gently guided him down to the ground.

“Easy, easy, I got you,” he tried to soothe his lover. “Danny, god, Danny, what is it? What happened?” he asked anxiously.

The colonel helped his lover to lie on the ground. Daniel looked at him in confusion, his pupils too wide to get a clear focus.”

“J'ck?” he croaked, his voice barely audible.

“It’s me, baby, what is it, what happened?!” Jack repeated, his anxiety increasing.

“I don’ feel so g'd,” Daniel said in pain-filled voice.

“I know, I know, tell me what happened,” Jack insisted.

“Sn'ke… bit… side… h'rts…” Daniel was having serious difficulty breathing, the air coming in short gasps.

Jack quickly lifted Daniel’s t-shirt and saw the two bloody punctures. The whole area was bruised and swollen.

“Rat'l… rat'l… b'g… big…” the archaeologist mumbled between clenched teeth.

“Rattlesnake?” Jack asked for confirmation, his alarm increasing. Daniel nodded weakly.

“Crap,” Jack swore. Leave it to Daniel Jackson the one in two million chances of being bitten by a rattlesnake in Minnesota. One had more probabilities of being killed by a wasp.

“Daniel, I need to take you to the hospital. Can you stand up?”

“Tr'… try…” the archaeologist whispered.

Jack helped him to sit upright first, and then he pulled him to a stand-up position. Daniel's limbs were numb and he could barely feel them, so Jack practically dragged him. After a few minutes of slow march, Daniel suddenly clutched his belly and leaned forward.

“G'nna be s'ck,” he warned.

And he immediately fell on his knees and threw up. His stomach was empty due to his previous vomiting so he just brought up some saliva and bile. Jack held him tight while saying reassuring words, but he was trembling so hard with fear that doubted Daniel felt reassured by them at all. After a few more minutes of dry heaving, Jack tried to help him to stand up again, but the archaeologist’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed in his lover’s arms.

The cabin wasn’t too far now, so without a second thought, Jack hoisted him into a fireman's carry and started to run. Jack hadn’t been so scared since… damnit, since a few days ago, when he hadn’t known if Daniel was still alive on Tegalus. Daniel’s resume was full of close calls. He could die any moment, in any mission going wrong, and apparently, in any freaking accident at home. And what had he done? Instead of cherishing every single moment at his side, he had attacked his integrity and hurt him deeply to conceal his owns insecurities and fears.

Jack increased his speed, unshed tears of shame, guilt, and fear stinging his eyes.

A few minutes later, they reached the cabin. Jack went directly to the rental truck and laid Daniel on the back seat. He pressed shaking fingers on his carotid artery. His pulse was fast and weak.

“God, Daniel, hang on, hang on,” he pleaded with a cracked voice. He ran towards the cabin, grabbed his wallet and the keys, ran to the truck, and jumped behind the steering wheel. He started the engine and drove as fast as he could on the rough terrain. For the first time in his life, he damned the isolation of the cabin. The nearest hospital was an hour's drive. The prayed that Daniel got there without irreparable damage. He diverted his attention between the road and the rear mirror. Daniel was still lying unconscious. Thick rivulets of sweat rolled along his pale face. He didn’t look like he was breathing at all. No, no, Jack pushed those thoughts aside. Daniel was going to be ok, he had to. Damnit, since he had become a General, he had nearly lost him trice. It was like he was unable to protect him anymore. No, no just that. The whole three times, it had been his fault.

“Shit!” Jack yelled out as he smacked the steering wheel with the heel of his hand.

“J'ck…” the weak voice startled him. He looked through the rear mirror and saw his lover stirring with pain-filled eyes.

“You’re gonna be ok,” Jack tried to reassure him, not noticing the tears that had started to fall some minutes ago. “I'm taking you to the hospital, just hang on, you hear me? You have to live, God, you have to live so I can spend the rest of my life making up for my stupidity.”

“J'ck… yu good m'n… s'thin wr'ng wiz… yu…” Daniel slurred.

“You’re damn right, baby, it’s something wrong with me,” Jack said, returning his attention to the road. “But first we need to fix you, so you can punch me or whatever you'd like to do to me right now.”

“D’nt… w'nna p'nch… yu, lov yu… j'st wan-na lov yu… h'lp yu…” Daniel’s eyes rolled back again and he went completely limp, his head tilting aside.

“Danny!” Jack yelled alarmed. Had he just…? No. Nononononono. He pulled over and quickly jumped between the front seats to the back. He searched for Daniel’s pulse. It was there. Weaker than before, but still there.

He started the truck again and pressed the pedal. The hospital wasn’t too far now.

***

Jack’s truck wheels screeched as he pressed the brake in front of the hospital emergency entrance. He jumped off the car and took Daniel on his arms. He was even paler than before and dark circles had formed under his eyes. He frantically ran towards the emergency room. His mind wandered to nine years ago when a similar action had preluded the dead of his son, Charlie. He quickly pushed the memory away. This wasn’t Charlie, this was Daniel, and snake bites weren’t mortal if they were treated in time. In time. What if it was too late? No, no, Daniel was going to be ok. They'd give him the antidote and everything would be alright.

“Help! I need help here!” He yelled as he stepped into the ER.

“What happened?” a young man, a nurse maybe, asked while running towards them.

“A snake, a snake bit him!” Jack explained nervously.

The nurse waved his hand and a gurney appeared next to them. Jack gently laid his lover on it. They wheeled Daniel to a cubicle while searching for further information from Jack.

“I'm Dr. Julia Miller,” a medium heigh, young, brunette woman introduced himself. “What kind of snake? Did you see it?”

“ Jack O’Neill. Rattle, rattlesnake,” the General quickly replied.

“Are you sure, did you see it?” the doctor asked as a nurse put an oxygen mask over Daniel’s mouth and nose.

“He, he saw it, he told me!” Jack urged.

“You sure? Rattlesnakes aren’t common in this area. We’ll have to report it,” the doctor insisted.

“Oh, believe me, he’s quite an expert in snakes,” Jack stated firmly.

“How long since he was bitten?” Dr. Miller asked while checking Daniel’s vitals.

“About an hour and a half ago,” Jack replied. “It isn’t too late, is it?”

“He is in good hands,” the doctor assured him. “April, please, accompany Mr. O’Neill to the waiting room.”

“It's General, General O’Neill, Air Force,” Jack corrected out of habit.

“Please, come with me, General,” she signaled the way.

Jack couldn’t look away from Daniel. Suddenly, the archaeologist's body began to shake. Three people leaned over him, inserting IVs, checking vitals, attaching machinery…

“He’s going into shock!” Jack recognized Dr. Miller's voice.

“General, please, you have to wait in the waiting room. We'll inform you as soon as possible,” the nurse repeated a bit louder.

Jack barely heard her, his gaze locked on the shaking body of his lover. A nurse inserted something in his IV and after a few seconds, Daniel’s body stilled.

“General, please, let us do our work,” Dr. Miller told Jack, seeing how reluctant he was about leaving the area.

Jack nodded absently and dragging his feet, he followed the nurse. During his way, he heard the voices from the cubicle where Daniel was being attended saying things like *blood pressure 80/40*… *pulse 150*… *check… internal bleeding *… the voices faded away as he was escorted to the admission desk.

“Sir, you need to fill the admission form for your son,” the nurse told him. “Then you can wait in the waiting room.”

Jack froze and he could barely find his voice. “He… he’s not my son,” he clarified, double stunned by the nurse supposition.

“Oh, I'm sorry, Sir, I just assumed…”

Without more comments, Jack took the sheet of paper and did as he was told. Once he filled the form, he went to the waiting room, sat on a plastic chair, leaned forward, put his face in his hands, and cried. He didn’t care who could see him. Nobody knew him there. He didn’t have any reputation to maintain.

***

“General O’Neill.”

Jack lifted his head and saw Dr. Miller standing in front of him. Three hours had passed since Daniel had been whisked away on the gurney.

Jack shot off the chair. “How is Daniel? ” he asked impulsively.

“General, the man you brought here, Daniel, you said, is he family of yours?”

“Yes, he’s my hus…” Jack bit his tongue and pressed his lips together. “He’s Dr. Daniel Jackson, he’s under my command. Daniel doesn’t have any family. I'm listed his next of kin. Is he going to be ok?”

“He’s still unconscious, but he should wake up in the next couple of hours,” she explained. “We believe he'll make a full recovery. We injected the antidote. He had some minor internal bleeding but we managed to stop it without needing to operate. His oxygen saturation was too low, so we'll keep him with extra oxygen supply at least for a couple of days.”

“How long until he recovers?” Jack asked eagerly.

“One-week minimum hospitalized, and then at least a couple of weeks more until he’s fully recovered. Bear in mind that he's going to be very weak for days. We’ll keep him under medication, but he might be nauseous and in pain, mainly in his joints and the bite area. You brought him just on time, General. One kidney had just begun to fail. Half an hour later, and we would be telling another tale.”

Jack swallowed the lump in his throat. It was all his fault. Since some months ago, all he seemed to be giving Daniel was pain. “Can I see him?” he asked anxiously. He needed to check by himself that his lover was… or rather would be ok.

“Of course,” she said with a gentle smile. “Just don’t wake him up or make him talk. Remember he needs all the rest he can get.”

***

When Jack approached Daniel’s bed his heart skipped a beat. The archaeologist was deadly pale, his sweaty strands plastered on his forehead. Even in unconsciousness, wrinkles of pain were drawn in his features. Various wires attached to a monitor disappeared under his gown. Jack sat on the chair next to the bed and took Daniel’s hand in his. He took a moment to study his lover. He looked so young and vulnerable. No wonder that the nurse had thought he was his son. New tears threaten to fall. Jack took a deep breath to compose himself, grabbed his cellphone, and dialed the SGC.

“It's General O’Neill. I need to speak with Dr. Brightman.” In moments like that, he missed Janet Fraser terribly.

***

In the next three days, Daniel drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness. He couldn’t keep his eyes open longer than half an hour, and when he did, the pain or nausea hit him and left him completely worn out. Jack wasn’t sure if he had been awake enough to recognize him any of those times. The medications and the effects of the snakebite left him completely dopey and exhausted. It wasn’t until day four that his oxygen levels reached comfortable numbers and Dr. Miller substituted the oxygen mask for a nasal cannula. The day before, Jack had gone back to the cabin to pack their luggage, secure the house, and return the rental truck to the company. He arranged a military flight to take Daniel to the SGC infirmary as soon as he was ready for the trip. He had talked to Carter and Teal’c after explaining the situation to Dr. Brightman. His two teammates had been ready to take the first flight to Minneapolis, but Jack stopped them, ensuring that they'd be at home in a few days.

Jack observed his sleeping lover from the plastic chair. Some color had come back to his cheeks, and the pain wrinkles had softened. The General replayed in his mind the moment he had found the archaeologist wobbling in the forest, and a shiver ran down his spine. If he had found him later, or if he hadn’t found him at all… he had recovered him, physically at least, but what about their relationship? Daniel was the most caring and compassionate human being he'd ever known, but would that be enough to forgive him? Would the archaeologist still be able to love him after the cruel sentence?

He knew what living without Daniel was like. He had experienced it during the year his lover had been with Oma. It was something he didn’t want to experience again. He'd do anything to regain his love and trust.

Jack was lost in his thoughts when he heard Daniel beginning to stir. In no time he was grabbing his hand. When the archaeologist’s eyes began to flutter, the colonel let out the air he hadn’t realized he was holding. Daniel’s eyelids slowly opened to reveal a thin blue line.

“Hey,” Jack said softly, squeezing his lover’s hand slightly.

Daniel’s eyes opened a bit more, and little by little they focused on Jack. He looked at him in confusion.

“Wh’t happ’ned?” he croaked.

“You don’t remember?”

Daniel frowned in concentration. “Snake?”

“It takes one Daniel Jackson to come across with one of the rarest snake species in Minnesota,” Jack teased, most to his own stress relief than Daniel’s.

“Thirsty,” the archaeologist said groggily.

“Here.” Jack approached a glass of water to his lips and helped him to an upright position. “Small sips.”

“Thanks.” Daniel slumped back on his pillow.

He studied at his lover for a few seconds, and then his confusion gaze turned into one of hurt. An invisible hand squeezed the General's heart. He was the one responsible for putting that expression of pain in his lover’s eyes. It didn’t matter if Daniel forgave him. He would never forgive himself.

Daniel kept staring at him without saying anything. Jack couldn’t hold the pain in the face of the man he considered his husband, the man that loved more than life, the man who shared his heart and his soul and felt a first tear escaping the corner of his eye.

Daniel whispered one single word: “Why?”

The pain in that single word drilled a hole in Jack’s soul, and a stream of tears fell freely down his face. His shoulders began to shake, and he squeezed Daniel’s hand harder, not wanting to let go.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I… I love you… please, Daniel please let me fix it,” Jack cried.

Daniel had seen his lover crying before, but never in such a soul-wrenching way and never with such desperation in his voice. He also felt his soul shattering into a million pieces.

“I know you love me,” Daniel said with a weak, cracked voice, “but you hurt me, you… you hurt me, and… and I don’t understand why.” His face crumpled in pain. “You would never have said something like that before. Something happened to you while I was on Tegalus. Please, talk to me.”

Jack couldn’t believe it. Daniel sounded genuinely concerned about him. The least he could do was answer his question. The colonel took a deep breath and wiped out his tears. He took a few seconds to pull himself together and started to talk.

“When I read your report, when I read about that woman, Leda…”

Daniel looked at the General intently, deep pain written again in his eyes. “Jack, you… you don’t trust me?” he asked with a tremulous voice, afraid of his lover answer. How could they keep a relationship if Jack didn’t trust him?

“No, no, Daniel, it’s not you,” Jack hurried to say. “It’s… it’s me.”

“You? What about you?” Daniel’s eyebrows knitted in a frown.

“I get up every morning, and I look at my reflection in the mirror and…” Jack sighed. “I'm old, Daniel. I'm a General now. All Generals I know are old, it goes with the job description. That… that nurse, before, she thought I was your father, for crying out loud. You shouldn’t waste your time with me. You’re young and, hell, you’re gorgeous, Danny. You should be with a young and beautiful woman, like that… Leda, having smart and beautiful kids. I'm taking that chance away from you.”

Daniel stared at Jack bewildered. He felt the anger rising in his gut.

“Son of a bitch,” he hissed as loud as his weakened voice let him.

“Daniel?”

“Who are you to decide who I should or shouldn’t love? Do you… do you think I loved you for your looks? Do you really think I'm that shallow? God, all those years… you… is that what you think of me?”

“Daniel, I…” Jack was terrified now. Loved. Daniel said *loved*, past tense.

“What was that at the cabin? A fucking goodbye? If you don’t love me anymore just have the guts to say it, don’t throw on me all that crap about the age.” If looks could kill right now Jack would be a bunch of ashes on the floor.

“No, it’s not that, I… I…” Jack stammered.

“Get out,” Daniel ordered.

“Dan-ny…”

“Get out, get out!”

Completely shocked by Daniel’s reaction, Jack slowly walked backward until he bumped against the door. With shaking hands he opened it and left the room. He gave a last glance inside in time to see Daniel curling up into a tight ball and beginning to shake. He could have sworn that heard something beeping. Jack leaned against the hallway wall and slid to the floor. He drew his knees to his chest. His whole body was trembling. What had just happened? Had he totally fucked up any chance to reconcile with his lover?

Suddenly he heard quick steps and Dr. Miller appeared around the corner followed by a male nurse hot on his heels. Ignoring Jack, they rushed inside Daniel’s room. The General’s face drained of all color as he stared blankly at the door. He wanted to run and check what was wrong with his… his what? Were he and Daniel lovers anymore? His legs were shaking so hard now that he couldn’t stand up.

***

Dr. Miller was shocked to see Daniel’s condition. He was curled up into a ball, facing the wall, and he was shaking hard. The monitor was beeping like crazy, showing a sudden increase in his heartbeat and his blood pressure. With the help of the nurse, they rolled him on his back. Daniel’s eyes were tight shut, his hands clutching his chest, and he was hyperventilating.

“Dr. Jackson! I need you to calm down,” Julia urged. “Dr. Jackson, Daniel, can you hear me?”

The archaeologist kept breathing harshly through his mouth, not giving any sign that he had noticed the doctor's presence.

“Mark, prepare 10 ml of…”

“No!” Daniel interrupted her. “No more drugs, please, please…”

“Ok, ok,” the doctor agreed, “but I need you to calm down, otherwise I'll have to sedate you.”

Daniel nodded weakly.

“Ok, slow breaths.” She put a hand on his stomach. “Try to lift my hand with your belly. Slow breaths, slow… slow…”

Daniel complied and little by little, his breathing, heart rate, and pressure went back to normal, and the annoying beeping stopped.

“Thank you, Mark,” Dr. Miller said dismissing the nurse. The younger man nodded and left the room.

When Jack saw him leaving the room, he managed to stand up.

“What happened? Is Daniel ok?” he asked anxiously.

“He’s fine,” he calmed him down. “He was a bit agitated, but it’s ok now. The doctor is with him.”

“Thanks,” Jack replied absently and resumed his position on the floor. He wanted to go inside the room and check by himself that the archaeologist was ok, but he was afraid of Daniel’s rejection, and he didn’t really have any other place to go. Daniel was ok, he tried to soothe himself. He was with Dr. Miller. He was in good hands. Dr. Miller was attractive, just a bit younger than Daniel, maybe. They'd do a good pair.

_Fuck!_

Where the hell were those thoughts coming from? First Leda, now Dr. Miller? He loved Daniel, he wanted him on his life, to grow old with him. Why the hell was he insisting on pushing Daniel away and throw him into young ladies’ arms?

_Shit, what’s wrong with me? When did my self-confidence go down to the gutter?_

_To grow old with him._

He squeezed his eyes shut and an image formed in his mind. Daniel unconscious on the floor, the life slipping out of him from a hole in his shoulder. A hole that he himself had put when he had shot him in the gateroom, three months ago, when he had been possessed by Anubis.

***

“Dr. Jackson, what happened?” Julia Miller asked softly.

“Nothing, I’m ok now, I… I’ll be fine,” he replied breaking eye contact.

“Does it something to do with your General sitting on the floor looking like a kid whose dog has just been run over by a truck?” she smiled empathically.

“My… my General?” Daniel looked at her, stunned.

“Part of my job implies the ability to read beyond physical injuries, Dr. Jackson. I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” she smiled with complicity.

“You remind me of someone I met in another life,” Daniel said sadly.

“Someone nice, I hope,” Dr. Miller teased.

“The best,” Daniel looked away, a sting of pain pierced his heart at the memory of Janet Fraiser.

“So, what about your General? I have the feeling that he is much more than just your commanding officer.

“Not anymore,” Daniel’s voice cracked and his eyes wetted.

“Well, whatever it is, I don’t think it’s over yet. As I told you, I saw him watching you, and now I can see you when you’re thinking of him. I can recognize a spark of love when I see it, Doctor. Talk to him. Whatever he did, I bet it isn't over yet.” And with that, she patted Daniel’s arm and left the room.

***

Julia saw Jack hadn’t moved an inch from his previous position sitting on the floor. She stood in front of him with her hands on his hips.

“General,” she started. “Look, I never talked to a General before, and I’m not familiar with the military etiquette. But I’ll tell you something. I don’t know what you did to Dr. Jackson, and it’s none of my business, but if you disturb my patient again I’ll kick you out of my hospital. Do I make myself clear? So make yourself a favor, will you? Lift your dumb ass from that floor and fix it.” And with that, she turned on her heels and left, leaving an open-mouthed stunned two stars General feeling like a kid scolded by the school’s principal.

“I wish I knew how,” Jack whispered to himself. He buried his face in his knees, feeling completely defeated.

“O’Neill!”

The strong, deep, familiar voice snapped Jack out of his slumber. He looked up and saw Sam and Teal’c running towards him.

“Carter? Teal’c?” he managed to articulate in his confusion.

When Sam moved closer and saw the defeat on Jack’s face, her heart skipped a beat. She covered his mouth with his hand and began to tremble.

“Oh my God, no. Daniel? No, no…”

Understanding the conclusion she was drawing, Jack hurried up to calm her down.

“He is ok, Carter, he is ok, he’s in there,” he said signaling the room with his thumb.

“Then explain why you are alone sitting on the floor, O’Neill,” Teal’c demanded.

“I just… screwed up everything,” Jack added seeing the confusion in his friend's face.

Sam rushed inside the room while Teal’c stayed with the General.

“What has transpired, O’Neill?” the Jaffa asked, his voice sounding even more powerful than usual.

“I told you, I fucked up everything.” Jack rested his head on the wall.

“I warned you about the consequences of hurting DanielJackson, O’Neill,” Teal’c reminded his friend.

“Yeah, I know,” Jack sighed. “You can dispose of my innards because I hurt him, Teal’c, I hurt him badly.”

Teal’c understood the meaning of Jack’s words. “You will accompany me to the cafeteria and will explain the situation,” he stated. “We may find a way to restore what is lost.”

Jack nodded absently, stood up, and let Teal’c guide him along the hospital hallways.

***

Sam stepped into the room with caution. She didn’t know what had caused the General’s distress, but she guessed Daniel wouldn’t be in better shape. She was right. Daniel was curled up into a ball with his back turned to the door. She could see the tension in his body. She slowly moved closer to the bed.

“Daniel?” She asked tentatively.

At the sound of the familiar voice, he turned on his back and looked at her open-mouthed.

“Sam? What are you doing here?” He asked in astonishment.

“We were worried about you, Daniel. The General told us not to come, but Teal’c said something about undomesticated equines, and here we are.” She tried to smile but her face saddened at the looks of his friend’s face. His eyes were puffy and red-rimmed. Obviously, he had been crying. Agh, she was going to kill the General. What had he done this time?.

“Teal’c is here also. He’s outside with the General. What happened? Did you have a fight?” She asked cautiously.

“Something like that,” he replied tiredly. “Don’t worry about it. It wouldn’t be us with a fight from time to time, would it?”

“But it would be the first time I see you cry after one,” Sam said with concern.

“Maybe I cried cause I was in pain. You should have seen that snake's fangs.”

“Then, it would be the first time I see you crying when you’re in pain.”

Daniel didn’t say anything but looked away ashamed by his lame excuse. Sam smiled in sympathy and decided not to push the issue. The relationship between her two friends had always been complicated. Whatever had happened, she trusted they’d go back on track soon.

“So, how are you doing? The General sounded very worried when he called us. Actually, he sounded really scared.”

“He did?” Daniel asked weakly.

“Of course he did. He cares a big deal about you, Daniel. I don’t think he would survive if something happened to you.”

“Yeah, sure,” Daniel whispered with a self-deprecating tone.

“Daniel?”

“I don’t think he cares that much for me anymore, you know?”

“Why do you say that? What has he done?” she asked suspiciously. She knew his commander could be quite harsh sometimes, especially when he was scared or couldn’t control a situation.

“It doesn’t matter, Sam. Leave it alone.”

“I don’t understand it, Daniel. Why do say he doesn’t care about you anymore? You didn’t see him those months you were lost in Tegalus. It was like when you ascended. He was impossible. Bad-tempered, snarling all around. He even snapped at me a couple of times when I didn’t give him the answers he wanted.”

Daniel thought about Sam’s words. Jack’s behavior couldn’t have been about Leda. At that point, he didn’t know of her existence. All that mess couldn’t be just about her. A snarling Jack was a scared Jack. He hadn’t had a way to know if he was alive in Tegalus. Was that it? As his lover, it’s natural that he had been scared. That explained his behavior at the SGC, but it didn’t explain his behavior with him.

If Jack really loved him, why was he trying to push him away? He was missing something. It wasn’t possible that Jack had faked his feelings for eight years. He could feel true love and passion every time they made love. He could read Jack’s soul every time he stared at his eyes. Then, if Jack truly loved him, why all these comments meant to hurt? What wasn’t the General telling him? The thoughts were giving him a headache.

Sam noticed the tension in Daniel’s features. “God, Daniel, I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just… we were very worried about you. How are you feeling, for the snakebite I mean.”

“Kinda tired, to tell you the truth,” Daniel confessed. “Headache. A bit nauseous also. Actually, hmm, I think I'm gonna be sick.”

As Sam noticed Daniel’s face losing its color, she grabbed the basin from the bedside table and put it under his chin. Daniel threw up a small amount of saliva and bile, and dry heaved for a few minutes until he finally calmed down.

Sam went to the bathroom to throw away the contents of the basin and came back with a wet cloth. She sat on the bed next to her friend, helped him to lean against her shoulder, and brushed his forehead, face, and neck with the fresh cloth.

“Better?” she asked softly.

Daniel nodded weakly. “Thanks,” he whispered.

“I love you, Daniel, and I hate to see that you’re hurting. Was that for the snakebite or the General?”

“Both, I guess,” he replied with a sigh.

“Oh, I'm so going to kill him,” Sam muttered.

“I love you too, Sam. I'm glad you came.”

“Try to sleep a bit more, ok? She suggested. “You still have a lot to heal.” And he knew she wasn’t just referring to the wound in his side.

“Ok,” Daniel nodded, his eyes already closed.

Sam tucked him as if he was a small child. “Sweet dreams, Daniel. I'll be here when you wake up.”

Daniel closed his eyes, but even as weak as he felt, he doubted he would be able to sleep. His mind was too busy trying to solve the puzzle that was Jack O’Neill.

***

Jack and Teal’c took his orders from the cafeteria counter and sat in the most isolated table in the area.

“Ice tea, T?” Jack remarked, noticing his friend’s choice.

“Indeed O’Neill. I discovered this beverage on our flight to Minneapolis. I find it most refreshing and the taste very pleasant.”

“Ah,” Jack said, and took a sip of his coffee.

“O’Neill, you will explain the nature of your situation with DanielJackson.”

Jack's face fell. “I fucked it up, T. He’s not going to forgive me.”

“What is the nature of your, as you say, *fuck up*?” Teal’c asked while raising his eyebrow.

Jack sighed soundly. “I, hmm, I told him that he should find a nice woman and have a normal relationship, you know, kids and all that.”

“I don’t understand O’Neill. If you love DanielJackson, why do you want him to mate with someone else?”

“I don’t want it, it’s just…”

“Then, if you don’t want it, why did you say such a nelk'tra?”

“Nelk'tra?”

“I believe the correct translation would be *utter foolishness*.”

“I thought about it when I was sitting in the hallway, and I think I know.” Jack looked down and stared at his coffee mug.

“Then you must explain it to DanielJackson.”

“Yeah, hmm, what if he… you know?”

“DanielJackson is the most understanding and compassionate being I've had the pleasure to meet. He forgave the unforgivable to me twice.”

Jack looked at Teal’c intently and comprehension traveled from two pairs of brown eyes to another. Jack nodded. Daniel was the best thing that ever happened to him. He couldn’t lose him. Not like that.

***

Jack felt his throat tighten, and a huge knot formed in his gut when, an hour later, he came into Daniel’s room. Sam was watching him while he slept.

“Sir,” she whispered to acknowledge the General’s presence. He smiled awkwardly and approached the bed slowly. “I'll leave you two alone,” she said. She left the room and Jack took her place at Daniel’s bedside.

Jack looked at the archaeologist sleeping, and a deep feeling of love filled his soul. At the same time, a deep feeling of guilt squeezed his heart. He closed his eyes, and his mind replayed different scenes of the last nine years: Daniel, who stepped in the way of a staff blast meant for him in Ra's ship. Daniel, who confessed his love after his adventure in Nem's planet. Daniel, who always made love to him in the most passionate way, kissing lovingly every inch of his skin, whispering love words into his ear. Daniel, who gave himself to him, trusted him, let him love him in the most intimate way. Daniel, who argued with him, fought to make his point valid, not sharing his point of view, but still loving him, thus their love was sustained by the communion of their souls and couldn’t be spoiled for something as mundane as a difference of opinion. Daniel, who laughed with him and also cried with him. Daniel, who opened his heart to him, and received his heart in exchange. Daniel, who died and told him he'd find a way to come back to him. Daniel, who gave up ascension for him.

Jack surrendered to the emotion of his feelings and smiled while a new flow of tears began to roll down his cheeks. He took a deep breath to try to contain the emotion. He opened his eyes and saw a bright pair of drowsy blue orbs staring back at him. Their gazes locked for a minute until Daniel began to talk.

“You can’t fool me, Jack,” he said, his voice still weak. “I know you love me, I can see it in your eyes. I can feel it… here,” he weakly patted his chest, “in my heart, in my soul…” he took a few seconds to recuperate his breath. “What I don’t know is…” Daniel’s lower lip began to quiver, “why you want to push me away.” Daniel’s voice cracked at the last word. “I don’t buy your excuse about the age, you know? You’re almost thirteen years older than me. You were almost thirteen years older than me nine years ago. Seven years ago. Five years ago. You’re getting older, and so am I. That was never the problem. Frankly, I'm a bit disappointed you couldn’t find a better excuse.”

“I am scared,” Jack confessed. He took a few seconds to analyze what he just said, and then he corrected it. “No, not scared. I'm terrified.” Jack swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Of what?” Daniel asked.

“Of losing you,” General confessed.

“Jack, I thought we had sorted out this issue years ago,” Daniel said tiredly. “We have a dangerous job. Every time we step through the gate there is a chance of not coming back. What’s different now?”

“You.”

“Me? What about me?”

“We don’t step through that gate anymore, Daniel. YOU do.” With the heel of his hand, Jack brushed away the tears in his face.” You, Carter, and Teal’c. Before I became *the man*, when I was fighting at your side, I could keep an eye on you. I could protect you. Now I'm the man whose orders can lead you to your death. Every time you disappear in the event horizon, I'm terrified that you may not come back. And when you didn’t come back from Tegalus… God, I thought I had killed you with my decision. And when you came back, I was so relieved… but then I started to think, that I wasn’t doing you any good. That sooner or later, I’d get you killed again. I wasn’t even conscious of that until some minutes ago, but looks like I thought the best way to protect you was…”

“What? Pushing me away? Daniel questioned with watery eyes. “And what next? Ground me? Keep me safe in my office? Or even better, throw me away from the SGC? Find me a fine wife, buy me a house with a picket fence, find me a safe job at the university?”

“Put like that it sounds…” Jack winced.

“Utterly stupid?”

“Yeah, I was thinking more like, which was the word… nelk'tra?” Jack looked away, ashamed.

“Yeah, nelk’tra fits.” Daniel sighed. “Jack, I've been in trouble many times while you were leading SG-1. Hell, I've died at least twice while you were leading SG-1 and I've been in trouble more times than I can remember.”

“Yes, you have, but not so often. But now, since I’m in command, you’ve been in trouble the whole time. It’s like I’m not able to keep you safe you anymore.”

“Jack, I'm here. I’m fine,” Daniel insisted, trying to reassure his partner.

“Says the man who can barely keep his eyes open because of snakebite in his side,” Jack said, guilt drawn all over his face.

Daniel saw the pain in the General’s eyes and his heart ached. Jack had always been strong, a fighter, a true leader. It hurt to see him with such a low degree of self-confidence.

“Daniel,” Jack continued, “since I took command of the SGC, I almost lost you three times. And the whole three times, the reason for almost losing you, was my command decision. Not a stray blast, or some freak accident. MY decisions almost cost you your life three times.

“Jack, you’re the best commander the SGC could have. I'm here, and I'm fine. Doesn’t it prove that your decisions were right?”

“Damnit, Daniel, on my first week I shot you. I could have killed you. I hit an artery. You almost bled to death. You were touch and go for a while, you know?

“You saved my life, Jack,” Daniel interrupted him. “I was going to kill you. You saved us all.”

“It doesn’t make it easier, you know? My… my gun killed… Charlie, and my gun almost… killed you. When I saw you unconscious on the ground, bleeding… because of my bullet…it all came back to me,” Jack’s voice cracked and new tears appeared in the corner of his eyes.

Daniel, unable to control his own tears anymore, reached out an arm and took Jack’s hand. He was beginning to understand the source of Jack’s pain. The General took a moment to pull himself together. Daniel entwined their fingers and squeezed weakly, encouraging the older man to continue. Jack took a deep breath and went on talking.

“Not many weeks later, I almost got you squashed like a bug in a windshield. If I hadn’t opened the iris…”

“But you did it. You trusted us and you opened it,” Daniel smiled softly.

“It was you, you know? Your voice made me realize you weren’t compromised. I knew it was really you.” They stared at each other intently.

“You saved us, Jack. You saved me, again.”

“While you were lost, I started to write my letter of resignation,” Jack confessed with defeat.

“What?!” Daniel exclaimed as loud as his weakened state let him.

“I didn’t finish it in the end. I should have finished it.”

“Jack, what are you talking about? Resign? You’re the best commander the SGC can have,” the archaeologist insisted again.

“It’s your heart talking, Danny,” Jack said, dismissing his lover comment.

“No, it’s not.” Daniel shook his head in denial. “You’re a natural leader and the best strategist I've ever known.” He was plenty confident about Jack’s capabilities. It hurt to hear his lover having so many doubts about himself.

“What about Tegalus, Daniel? Don’t you think it was the last straw? I let you go there even knowing the situation was unstable. Probably my worst decision to the date.”

“Jack, it was me who insisted on going there. I pressed you, pursued you along the SGC hallways.”

“But still, it was my decision. You know, I was feeling a bit guilty for not letting you go to Atlantis, and well, it was like a way to make up to you for that.”

“Oh. Really? Thank you… I think. Anyway, everything turned out ok. I'm fine.”

“Danny, you... hell, a bomb exploded in your face, for God’s sake. That doesn’t count as things going well. It’s a miracle you’re alive, and you know it. You were lost for two months. I didn’t know whether you were dead or alive. If you had died, it would have been my fault. For an action directly originated from my command. I've been in command for four months now, and I almost got you killed three times. What’s next? Another gunshot? Another bomb? Another lethal dose of radiation?

“Jack, stop! Stop. Please…” Daniel’s voice faded to a whisper.

“I'm so scared, Daniel, I'm so scared of making the wrong decision and get you killed.” Jack took a deep breath trying to contain the tears. “I can’t even get you safe at my cabin. You almost died for a freaking snakebite.”

“That was bad luck. And again you saved me.” Daniel squeezed Jack’s hand again. He didn’t know what to do to pull his lover out from that guilty trip he was riding. Usually, it was the other way around, him doing the guilty trip and Jack pulling him out.

“The snake wouldn’t have bitten you if I hadn’t pushed you away in the first place,” Jack insisted.

“You don’t know that,” Daniel shrugged weakly. “I might have come across it the next day during a walk in the forest. I shouldn’t have run away. It was childish and reckless.”

“Don’t even go there, Daniel. I'm the only one to blame on this one.”

“Let’s make it a draw, ok?” Daniel smiled softly. “Jack, I wish you were still part of SG-1, but it’s not possible. It was a medical decision." Daniel talked slowly, trying to soothe his physical discomfort. "Your knees are too damaged. I don’t want to see you in a wheelchair, you know? You made the right decision." He stopped for a second to catch some air. "And about your other ones, you saved my life when you shot me on the gateroom, and weeks later when you opened the iris. And what about the ZPM? You tricked Camulus and Ba'al. You saved the whole planet again. Your decision saved us all. And about Tegalus, it was just bad luck, like that time you were stuck in Edora for one hundred days.”

Jack shuddered at the memory. “Now I know how you felt.”

Daniel stared at the General with glistening eyes. He didn’t try to stop the tears anymore. “Jack, the only thing that can kill me, is not being part of your life. If you had meant what you said at the cabin, you could well have let me die in that forest, because I don’t want to live a life without you in it. You hurt me, Jack, you hurt me badly. For a while, I thought of the possibility of you not loving me anymore and I…” he bit his lower lip, trying to control the rush of emotion. “I think the reason the venom affected me so badly, it’s because I was already dead inside when the snake bit me.”

“God, Daniel. I love you, I never stopped loving you. How can I ask you to forgive me after what I did?”

“ I love you too,” Daniel sniffed. “But right now, I have two wounds to heal. One is the snakebite on my side. To heal it I just need medication and time. The other one is the tear in my heart, and besides time, I really don’t know what I need to heal this one.”

“What about trust? Honesty? Confidence? Acceptation? Love?”

“Can you give it to me? For real?” Daniel looked for the answer in Jack’s eyes.

“Yes, yes I can. I can give it to you, and also to Carter and Teal’c. You three are the best in the field. I can trust that you can watch each other’s six, that you’ll do your best to keep each other’s safety.”

“That means a lot to me, Jack. Thank you. But what about you? Can you give it to yourself?”

“What if I make the wrong call the next time?”

“Jack, you know better than anyone the useless of the *what if* trap.” You, Jack O’Neill, are the best asset for the SGC.”

“Hammond was the best.”

“You know? You’re right. But you can get there. You only need more confidence in yourself. I trust you. The whole SGC trusts you. Believe me. You’re the best commanding officer we could have. And you know why?

“Why?”

“Because you care. Because you have a smart mind, but you also have a heart.”

“You put it there, Daniel. I lost my heart many years ago, and you brought it back to me.”

“I want you to promise me that every time I step through the gate, you’ll be confident that I’ll come back. Otherwise, If you are afraid every time I step into the wormhole, you’re gonna go nuts.

“You’re my family. I can’t help to worry,” Jack said, defeated.

“Maybe not, but you can’t trust that in case we’re in trouble, you’ll make the right decision to bring us back home safe. I trust you. I know you'll never let us down. But I can’t function off-world if I leave with the thought of you being worried sick at the other side of the galaxy. So please, have confidence in Sam’s command, in Teal’c tremendous skills, and my expertise. I'm not a rookie geek anymore. And have confidence in yourself. You just may need some time. It’s been only four months since you took the job. You need to adjust. You need to see how your decisions make the difference. Because until now, your calls, not only saved my life but the entire galaxy.”

“You know, every time I think it’s impossible to love you more, you prove me wrong.” Jack sat on Daniel’s bed, and taking care of not disentangle any of the wires attached to his body, he pulled him into a hug. “I love you, Danny, I love you so much. And I promise. I promise I’ll try. Thinking of it, maybe you’re right, you know? Maybe watching the whole picture, I didn’t do so bad after all.”

They pulled away and Daniel tenderly cupped Jack’s face with his hand. “I love you too. I never stopped. And there is something I didn’t write in my report.” Daniel sense Jack tensing under his touch.“You’re right. Leda was young, beautiful, and caring. Her marriage with Jared Kane wasn’t living its best moment. And I think she got a crush on me.”

Jack felt a stab of jealousy, but he didn’t say anything. He trusted Daniel, so he just waited for him to finish the story.

“But she never stood a chance,” Daniel smiled fondly, “ because you like it or not, I'm hooked to the most handsome, caring, sexy strong person in the whole universe.”

And seeing the honesty in Daniel’s eyes, Jack leaned forward and captured his lips in a long, sweet, and gentle kiss. And like this, with another overcome bump in their always tortuous path, they sealed their forever.

**_The end, for now_ **


End file.
